were struggling in a _melee_ of horses,
harness, snow, and the sarcastic injunctions of Bildad Rose, called
loudly from the whirl of his volunteer duties: "Say! some of you
fellows get Miss Solomon into the house, will you? Whoa, there! you
confounded brute!"

Again must it be gently urged that in travelling from Paradise
to Sunrise City an accurate name is prodigality. When Judge
Menefee--sanctioned to the act by his grey hair and widespread
repute--had introduced himself to the lady passenger, she had, herself,
sweetly breathed a name, in response, that the hearing of the male
passengers had variously interpreted. In the not unjealous spirit of
rivalry that eventuated, each clung stubbornly to his own theory. For
the lady passenger to have reasseverated or corrected would have seemed
didactic if not unduly solicitous of a specific acquaintance. Therefore
the lady passenger permitted herself to be Garlanded and McFarlanded and
Solomoned with equal and discreet complacency. It is thirty-five miles
from Paradise to Sunrise City. _Compagnon de voyage_ is name enough, by
the gripsack of the Wandering Jew! for so brief a journey.

Soon the little party of wayfarers were happily seated in a cheerful
arc before the roaring fire. The robes, cushions, and removable
portions of the coach had been brought in and put to service. The
lady passenger chose a place near the hearth at one end of the arc.
There she graced almost a throne that her subjects had prepared. She
sat upon cushions and leaned against an empty box and barrel, robe
bespread, which formed a defence from the invading draughts. She
extended her feet, delectably shod, to the cordial heat. She ungloved
her hands, but retained about her neck her long fur boa. The unstable
flames half revealed, while the warding boa half submerged, her
face--a youthful face, altogether feminine, clearly moulded and calm
with beauty's unchallenged confidence. Chivalry and manhood were here
vying to please and comfort her. She seemed to accept their devoirs--not
piquantly, as one courted and attended; nor preeningly, as many of her
sex unworthily reap their honours; not yet stolidly, as the ox receives
his hay; but concordantly with nature's own plan--as the lily ingests
the drop of dew foreordained to its refreshment.

Outside the wind roared mightily, the fine snow whizzed through the
cracks, the cold besieged the backs of the immolated six; but the
elements did not lack a champion